One eCommerce solution to rule them all: How B2B enterprises are thriving with D2C strategies

The rise of D2C for B2B enterprises

Traditionally, companies were defined by their sales model: B2B (business-to-business), B2C (business-to-consumer) or D2C (direct-to-consumer). Today, the lines are increasingly blurred. Companies that were once purely B2B are strengthening D2C strategies to diversify revenue streams and connect directly with consumers.

In fact, 79% of B2B companies report selling directly to consumers, up from 66% in 2024, and nearly half of those not yet selling D2C plan to do so. 

Selling directly to end-users or smaller buyers forces manufacturers and wholesalers to rethink their strategies and adopt tactics once reserved for B2C brands. What was once a niche or experimental move is now rapidly gaining ground, even as organizations recognize that shifting to D2C is no small feat. 

The need to assume responsibility for logistics, fulfillment, shipping and customer experience — functions historically managed by intermediaries — acts as a powerful forcing function, driving greater process clarity, surfacing inefficiencies and prompting a broader re-evaluation of operating models and strategic priorities.

The fact that over 71% of B2B buyers are Millennials or Gen Z, with only 29% born before 1980, reinforces the shift toward not only online purchasing per se, but also online purchasing that works. That’s why 75% of buyers would switch to a supplier that offers a better online experience.  

The rise of D2C, a younger, digital-savvy workforce and consumer-grade experiences becoming the standard are interconnected trends. They’re pushing for easy online ordering, transparent pricing, personalized offers and seamless checkout that mirror their B2C experiences.

Why B2B enterprises are going D2C

D2C is a sales approach where B2B manufacturers manage the entire supply chain process — from production to marketing, distribution and selling. Instead of strictly working with  “middlemen,” i.e., distributors or wholesalers to get their products into physical and online stores, B2B companies that implement a D2C model sell directly to consumers.

The main reason manufacturers expand into D2C sales is to gain greater control over their brand. In the past, the cost of opening and operating brick-and-mortar store locations was a major deterrent to this strategy. However, the rise of eCommerce has made it an incredibly attractive option for manufacturers, as the D2C model allows them to present their products and brand however they want, as well as helps lower overhead costs and provides direct access to customer data. 

The D2C business model delivers a multitude of benefits: 

• Improve revenue and margins: No longer do you have to price your products according to traditional sales commissions or retailer markups, as selling directly eliminates distributor fees and middlemen. While your marketing, customer acquisition and operations costs increase, you get more control over how you price and promote your products. 
• Leverage customer data: Selling directly to your customers gives you immediate access to their data, enabling you to gain customer insights and improve your products and messaging. 
• Faster product iteration: Tap into your customer base to test drive new products, inspire product development and enhance your ability to meet customer needs. For example, you can experiment with new revenue streams such as subscriptions.
• Increase product discovery: Upsell and cross-sell from your inventory. Use product recommendations to feature items from your product lines and create campaigns that spotlight the products you want to promote.
• Go global: Instead of having to find and secure partners to expand your international footprint, you can strategically select and enter new markets based on potential. You can also easily enable cross-border selling to get your products in front of the right customer segment in the right market. 
• Brand loyalty and control: You can deliver consistent experiences that reflect your brand values.

The pitfalls of using separate eCommerce systems

Many B2B companies attempt to implement D2C strategies by integrating disparate eCommerce platforms for B2B and D2C operations. This approach often leads to:

• Operational silos: Product, pricing and customer data become fragmented.
• High costs: Multiple platforms require additional licensing, add-ons and customizations, inflating the total cost of ownership (TCO).
• Inefficiency and errors: Manual reconciliation of inventory, orders and customer information slows operations.
• Inconsistent customer experiences: Disjointed platforms aren’t always seamlessly connected, which may lead to inconsistencies in product information, pricing and promotional offers. This, in turn, negatively affects consumers' shopping journey.  

Legacy systems — AKA, monolithic software built for a single business model — are particularly problematic. They’re inflexible, expensive to maintain and often unable to support multiple business models without extensive custom work.

How unified commerce supports B2B and D2C

A unified commerce platform ensures seamless data integration across models, preserving synergies in product information, customer data and checkout processes, while enabling distinct storefronts and marketing strategies. For B2B companies exploring D2C, this means:

• Centralized product catalogs ensure consistency across B2B and D2C channels.
• Flexible storefronts let you deliver tailored experiences for consumers without disrupting B2B operations.
• Streamlined order management reduces manual tasks and improves operational efficiency. 

commercetools enables businesses to manage B2B, B2C and D2C models on a single platform. Supported by a multi-site management approach, businesses can leverage commercetools’ “stores and channels” concept to differentiate the customer-facing experience while operating from a unified backend. 

This setup allows businesses to define what a “store” represents — whether it’s physical locations, online stores or different business lines — allowing for a streamlined and scalable management system across various business models. In other words, this flexibility ensures that businesses can support diverse needs without duplicating efforts while centralizing data management and reducing the costs of maintaining multiple systems.

Ultimately, a unified platform enables B2B enterprises to reduce risks associated with disparate systems and scale without unnecessary duplication of processes or technology.

Success stories: B2B companies leveraging D2C

Viewrail streamlined D2C growth and augmented revenue during peak seasons 

Viewrail leveraged commercetools to launch and manage multiple D2C brands. “With commercetools, we can power one site or 100 from a shared backend,” explained Kyle Klimek, Chief Digital Officer at Viewrail. “We want to launch more D2C brands, so that flexibility to scale brands and storefronts without duplicating systems is what sealed the deal.”

Viewrail’s two biggest D2C sales peaks, Memorial Day and Black Friday, are when the company offers a 15-20% discount on all products sold via the online channel. With a scalable solution that increases capacity to meet customer demand, the company can now fully monetize those big shopping moments.

Festool created direct customer relationships by going beyond marketplaces

Festool has historically depended on specialized retailers, dealers and marketplaces to distribute its comprehensive range of power tools to buyers. While this approach was successful, the company faced limitations in capturing and comprehending data related to customer needs and the purchasing process. 

The company observed that customers discovered its products predominantly online, often directly on Festool’s website, but made purchases on marketplaces or specialized retailers. Moreover, Festool offers over 2,700 products and 15,000 spare parts. Given the extensive product range, it’s impractical for any retailer to list and stock all these items for immediate purchase, further complicated by local market regulations and applications. 

Establishing its own online store helped the company collect customer feedback while providing immediate access to the entire portfolio. Since then, Festool has created sophisticated modern buying channels, such as mobile apps, that enable customers to order, manage and communicate directly with the manufacturer. All channels, including third-party marketplaces, are seamlessly managed through a unified platform that orchestrates operations across every touchpoint.

Start your D2C journey

Whether you’re just starting your digital transformation or exploring ways to expand your eCommerce to B2C/D2C without fragmenting your tech stack, commercetools’ unified commerce platform is the right solution to pivot between B2B, B2C and D2C without missing a beat.

Want to find out more? Get in touch with our experts to discuss in more detail.